Artificial fuel and method of making same



March 11 1924,. 4 msams:

J. R. HINMAN I ARTIFICIAL FUEL AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Dec. 3, 1923 gykaw Patented lt'lar. II, 1924..

"rear JOHN R. -HINMAN, F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

I ARTIFICIAL FUEL AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

Application filed. December 3,1923. Serial No. 678,187.

To all whom-it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. HINMAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and if State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Fuel and Methods ofMaking Same; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

'ihis invention relates to an artificial fuel and to a method of making it.

Objects of this invention are to provide an artificial fuel which is an efficient heat producer, which has a small amount of ash, which burns in a ready and efiicient manner and may be as readily controlled as any of the usual type of fuels and which may be cheaply produced from otherwise discarded material.

Further objects are to provide a method of making artificial fuel from garbage, sawdust, rubbish, weeds and other similar material of a combustible, fibrous or cellular nature hereinafter referred to as waste.

Further objects are to provide a method of making artificial fuel which may be expeditiously carried out, which requires a relatively small number of operations and which lends itself readily to the handling of Waste in the form in which it is usually received.

In order to illustrate the invention, a form in which the finished product may be embodied is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of the fuel element or units.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view through such unit. 7

In practicing the method contemplated by this invention, the waste is received in its normal state and is finely ground with swamp clay, muck, or peat muck, which is preferably moistened and added to the waste. The proportion of the clay or muck, which will hereafter be referred to as clay, are substantially in about the ratio of one-fifth clay to eight parts by volume of the waste. Ihis material is ground into an intimately mixed mass and preferably oil in about the proportion of one-fourth of onepart is added while it is being ground and agitated. However, if the garbage is used, the oil content may be lessened for the reason that the garbage usually contains quite a material amount of oils such, for example, as that due to the presence of animal matter, or similar material.

After the grinding has been effected and the parts are in an intimately mixed state,

the mass. is subjected to pressure as, for example, by mean of a hydraulic press, to ex.- pel the major portion of the moisture and to form the resulting product into a compacted mass. The pressure is such that the mass is reduced in Volume about eight times although, of course, thi exact figure need not be followed, as the reduction in volume will necessarily vary with the difi'erent ma terials employed.

The material is preferably formed into portions or units at the time it is pressed of such size that they may be handled with facility in the usual firing operation.

In order to prevent, on the one hand, either the too great absorption of moisture by the resulting product or, on the other hand, the too complete drying out of the product depending, of course, upon the condition it is exposed to. such product is pref erably jacketed. or enclosed in a combustible and hermetically sealed casing. For instance, a paper tube or container may be employed with the ends closed in any suitable manner and sealed in such closed condition.

In the drawings one form in which the finished product may appear, has been illustrated, and in such showing the compacted mass is indicated by the reference character 1 and is shown as of cylindrical contour. This compacted mass is enclosed in a combustible jacket 2 whose ends 3 are closed in any suitable manner as, for eX ample, by folding them inwardly and sealing them either by means of some adherent compound or by means of an additional member 4 stuck to the outer end of the inwardly pressed and folded portions of the jacket.

In actual tests it has been found that this artificial fuel burns in a manner similar to that of the best solid fuels that the amount of heat derived therefrom compares favorablv with that of the hia'h grade solid fuels. such as coal, for instance. It has also been found that the rate of burning that only a small amount of ash is left and that the combustion is complete and thorough.

I claim r 1. A combustible fuel comprising a com.-

pacted body portion of finely divided Waste,

and subjecting the resulting product to pressure to expel moisture and compact the mass.

4. The method of making Marian fuel comprising grinding Waste and'cla'y, adding oil subjecting the intimately mixed. product 7 to. pressure to reducethe yolume and expel themoiaure, and enclosing the compacted material in a jacket.

5.. The method of making artificial fuel comp-rising grinding Waste and clay and adding' oil, Compressing the resulting product and shaping it into readily handled portions,*and 'enclosing each of the resulting compacted portions in an hermetically sealed, combustiblejacket.

'In testin'iony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at'hlilwaukea in i cen hthe co n'ty MilWaukee; and State of wear 3- HINM L. 

